NORWALK -- In a city has that has always been known for its baseball prowess and passion, a recent tryout by the AAU team the Technique Tigers out of Stratford at the SoNo Field House again raised the question of the priority for baseball players in Norwalk.

A smaller-than-expected turnout for the Tigers tryout may have answered that question, at least for the time being.

"I guess we're doing the right thing," said Joe Parlanti, vice president of Norwalk Babe Ruth. "What we like to say is 'let's not beat these organizations, let's provide the best product for the parents and players in Norwalk.' At times it's frustrating to see these programs come in to town, but we believe we're doing what we can to keep the competition best for the Norwalk boys."

Manny Torres, program director for the Technique Tigers, said his organization is merely trying to expand its scope beyond the Bridgeport-Stratford area.

"This was the first time we had tryouts (at SoNo Field House)," Torres said of the six-year-old Tiger program that has travel teams for 10- to 18-year-olds. "Actually, the turnout wasn't as good as we'd like. We had a total of four kids picked up, in the younger age groups. We show them we have a legitimate program. We have kids from Shelton, Fairfield, Trumbull and Westport, and it's great to get as much talent as we can."

Torres said he and his coaches are not intending to step on any toes in coming further south into Fairfield County, although he said he "heard rumblings and negativity" about their visit to the city.

"We have a lot of respect for Norwalk baseball, and we have no ill intent coming down there," Torres said. "We want to show kids we have a pretty good program. We're not putting a gun to anyone's head. We gave it a try, and we're not trying to do anything wrong. We were trying to pick up a couple kids. We understand Norwalk has a great reputation for baseball, and we just want to get our name out."

Gerald Anastasia, assistant director of Norwalk's Recreation and Parks Department and head coach of the Junior American Legion team, said he and the other coaches of the Legion and Babe Ruth squads have a simple motivation.

"As far as Legion and Babe Ruth are concerned, we want to keep these kids together," Anastasia said. "The success of the high school teams proves how good these programs are doing. It's not the stars that are going to win you a title, it's the everyday players."

As far as the multitude of choices facing scholarship-hungry athletes and parents, Parlanti said "that's part of the landscape" of today's youth baseball.

"There are tons of options facing kids," Parlanti said. "From our standpoint, we want to keep Babe Ruth strong and keep Legion strong. Norwalk Babe Ruth and Legion are closer and stronger than they've ever been. The guys in charge have been doing this a while, and one of our most important jobs is to keep good, young coaches involved. There's a time when fathers have to step out and administrate and hire new coaches. We're excited about the synchronicity of Babe Ruth and Legion."

As with so many decisions these days, cost is a primary factor, and Parlanti hopes the local pricing will tip the scales to the local teams.

"We do all this as volunteers, and we do this so the kids can play for the right price," Parlanti said. "We don't want kids to have to play for $3,000 or $4,000. We try to get them 60 to 70 games for $1,000. We're working hard to give Norwalk kids an opportunity to stay together with kids they will play with or against as city rivals in high school at a good price."